The remains of the R101, a British rigid airship, part of a British government programme to develop civil airships capable of service on long-distance routes within the British Empire. The world's largest flying craft at 731 ft (223 m) in length, it crashed on 5 October 1930 at Beauvais in France during its maiden overseas voyage, killing 48 of the 54 people on board. Among the passengers killed were Lord Thomson, the Air Minister who had initiated the programme, senior government officials, and almost all the dirigible's designers from the Royal Airship Works.

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The remains of the R101, a British rigid airship, part of a British government programme to develop civil airships capable of service on long-distance routes within the British Empire. The world's largest flying craft at 731 ft (223 m) in length, it crashed on 5 October 1930 at Beauvais in France during its maiden overseas voyage, killing 48 of the 54 people on board. Among the passengers killed were Lord Thomson, the Air Minister who had initiated the programme, senior government officials, and almost all the dirigible's designers from the Royal Airship Works. The crash of R101 effectively ended British airship development, and was one of the worst airship accidents of the 1930s.

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Size: 4990px × 3052px
Location: Beauvais, France
Photo credit: © De Luan / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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